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Siger of Brabant The Life and Thought of Siger of Brabant, Thirteenth-Century Parisian Philosopher: An Examination of His Views on the

Relationship of Philosophy and Theology (Studies in the History of Philosophy) Raymond of Lully Lully, Raymond Ramon Lull (anglicized: Raymond Lully) (1235-1315) was a Spanish-Catalan philosopher and missionary, born in Palma, Majorca. One of the first Europeans to advocate the study of the Arabic language, he founded a college of Arabic study in Majorca in 1276. He made three missionary visits to Africa and was stoned to death on the last for preaching against Islam. His followers, the Lullists, combined a religious mysticism with a belief in alchemy. Lully was said to have changed base metal to gold, called 'aurum Raymundi' in his honor. His most important work, the "Ars Magna" or "The Great Art," was a defense of Christianity against the teaching of Abu-Al-Walid Muhammad Ibn-Ahmad Ibn-Rushd (1126-1198), commonly called Averroes. Averroes was a Muslim Spanish-Arab philosopher, jurist, and physician who held the heretical view that philosophy was as important as religion. Spain was at that time going through a religious war as the influence of Moorish immigrants endangered the religious status quo of the country. The increasing influence of Arab religion, science, and philosophy created a backlash which gave rise to the Spanish Inquisition. Lovecraft refers to Lull's Ars Magna et Ultima, in Zetner's edition, which could be found in the library of Joseph Curwen. ("The Case of Charles Dexter Ward") John Peckham John Peckham (or Pecham) (c. 1230 8 December 1292) was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 12791292. He was a native of Sussex who was educated at Lewes Priory and became a Franciscan friar about 1250. He studied at Paris under Bonaventure, where he later taught theology. From his teaching, he came into conflict with Thomas Aquinas, whom he debated on two occasions. Known as a conservative theologian, he opposed Aquinas' views on the nature of the soul. Peckham also studied optics and astronomy, and his studies in those subjects were influenced by Roger Bacon. In around 1270, Peckham returned to England, where he taught at the University of Oxford, and was elected the Franciscan provincial minster of England in 1275. After a brief stint in Rome, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1279. His time as archbishop was marked by efforts to improve discipline in the clergy as well as reorganize the estates of his see. Pluralism, or holding more than one clerical benefice, was one of the abuses that Peckham combatted. He served King Edward I of England in Wales, where he formed a low opinion of the Welsh people and laws. Before and during his time as archbishop, he wrote a number of works on optics, philosophy, and theology, as well as writing hymns. Numerous manuscripts of his works survive. On his death, his body was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, but his heart was given to the Franciscans for burial. Matthew of Aquasparta Matthew of Aquasparta (1240 29 October 1302) was an Italian Franciscan and scholastic philosopher. Born in Acquasparta, Umbria, he was a member of the Bentivenghi family, to which belonged his fellow Franciscan, Cardinal Bentivenga de' Bentivenghi, bishop of Albano (died 1290). Matthew entered the Franciscan Order at Todi, took the degree of Master of Theology at Paris, and taught also for a time at Bologna. The Franciscan John Peckham having become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1279, Matteo was in 1280 made Peckham's successor as Lector sacri Palatii apostolici, i.e. he was appointed reader (teacher) of theology to the papal Curia. In 1287 the chapter held at Montpellier elected him minister general in succession to Arlotto of Prato. When Girolamo Masci of Ascoli, who had previously been general of the Franciscan Order, became pope as Nicholas IV, 15 February 1288, he created Matthew cardinal with the titulus of San Lorenzo in Damaso that May. After this Matteo was made Cardinal Bishop of Porto, and penitentiarius major (Grand Penitentiary). He still, however, retained the direction of the order until the chapter of 1289. Matthew had summoned this chapter to meet at Assisi, but Nicholas IV caused it to be held in his presence at Rieti; here Raymond Gaufredi, a native of Provence, was elected general.

Peter John Olivi Peter John Olivi (1248-March 14 1298) was a Franciscan theologian who, although he died professing the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, became a controversial figure in the arguments surrounding poverty at the beginning of the Fourteenth Century. He writings were condemned as heresy in 1299, and his tomb desecrated by members of his order in 1318. His support of the extreme view of ecclesiastical poverty played a part in the ideology of the groups coming to be known as the Fraticelli. Dietrich of Freiberg Dietrich of Freiberg's writings to remember that he was the kind of philosopher who constructed his various works from a metaphysical point of view, whether they were scientific studies on light or theological treatises on the beatific vision. For care and attention to developing a correct account of the nature of being, he tells us, will allow the philosopher to avoid many errors. The concept of being (ens), he notes, is the most fundamental of notions, distinguishing a thing from nothingness. Indeed, one can find many places in his writings where an important philosophical point or crucial distinction hinges on what Dietrich understands to be the correct notion of being, or essence, or quiddity. It is best then to begin the development of an account of Dietrich as a philosopher by attending to his metaphysics.

Peter of Abano

Pietro d'Abano also known as Petrus De Apono or Aponensis (c.1257[1][2] 1315) was an Italian philosopher, astrologer and professor of medicine in Padua.[3] He was born in the Italian town from which he takes his name, now Abano Terme. He gained fame by writing Conciliator Differentiarum, qu inter Philosophos et Medicos Versantur. He was eventually accused of heresy and atheism, and came before the Inquisition. He died in prison before the end of his trial.
Johannes Meister Eckhart Eckhart, Meister: (1260-1327) Was born in Hochheim (Gotha), may have studied with St. Albert in Cologne, received his doctorate at Paris in 1302. He taught theology at various times, devoted much time to preaching in the vernacular, and filled various administrative posts in the Dominican Order. Mystical, difficult in terminology, his thought appears to contain elements of Aristotelianism, Augustinism, Neoplatonism and Avicennism. Accused of Pantheism and other theological errors, he was the subject of a famous trial in 1326; he abjured publicly any possible religious errors which he may have made. Chief works Opus Tripartitum, Quaestiones Parisienses, Deutsche Predigten. (Pfeiffer, F., Deutsche Mystiker des 14 Jahrh., Bd. II, Leipzig, 1857; tr. Evans, London, 1924.) B. J. Muller-Thym, University of Being in M. Eckhart (N. Y., 1939). -- V.J.B. John Duns Scotus Scotism: The philosophical and theological system named after John Duns Scotus (1266? -1308), Doctor Subtilis, a Franciscan student and later professor at Oxford and Paris and the most gifted of the opponents of the Thomist school. The name is almost synonymous with subtlety and the system generally is characterized by excessive criticism, due to Duns Scotus' predilection for mathematical studies -- the influence, perhaps, of his Franciscan predecessor, Roger Bacon, upon him. This spirit led Scotus to indiscriminate attack upon all his great predecessors in both Franciscan and Dominican Schools, especially St. Thomas, upon the ground of the inconclusiveness of their philosophical arguments. His own system is noted especially for its constant use of the so called Scotist or formal distinction which is considered to be on the one hand less than real, because it is not between thing and thing, and yet more than logical or virtual, because it actually exists between various thought objects or "formalities" in one and the sime individual prior to the action of the mind -- distinctio formalis actualis ex natuta rei. e g., the distinction between the essence and existence, between the animality and rationality in a man, between the principle of individuation in him and his matter and form, and between the divine attributes in God, are all formal distinctions. This undoubtedly leaves the system open to the charge of extreme realism and a tendency generally to consider the report of abstract thought with little regard for sense experience. Further by insisting also upon a formal unity of these formalities which exists apart from conception and is therefore apparently real, the system appears to lead logically to monism, e.g., the really distinct materiality in all material things is formally one apart from the abstracting and universalizing activity of the mind. By insisting that this formal unity is less than real unity, the Scotists claim to escape the charge. Marsillius of Padua Marsilius of Padua Italian philosopher who wrote Defender of the Peace, a work that denied the secular authority of the pope. Nicholas of Autrecourt The most striking feature of Autrecourt's academic career is his condemnation in 1347. In almost every history of medieval philosophy, his censure is presented as one of the most important events in fourteenth-century Paris. In the older literature, Autrecourt's views have become linked to allegedly skeptical tendencies in scholastic thought, and have been unduly shadowed by assumptions about their relation to the views of William of Ockham. Over the last two decades, however, it has become apparent that the study of Autrecourt's thought has been wrongly placed in the larger context of the battle against Ockhamism at the University of Paris in the years 1339-1347. Although Autrecourt was no skeptic on the contrary, he attacked the Academics or ancient Skeptics his philosophical stance challenges the prevailing Aristotelian tradition. In particular, Autrecourt rejected some of the main tenets of scholastic metaphysics and epistemology, such as the substance-accident structure of reality and the principle of causality. William of Ockham (c. 12871347) is, along with Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus, among the most prominent figures in the history of philosophy during the High Middle Ages. He is probably best known today for his espousal of metaphysical nominalism; indeed, the methodological principle known as Ockham's Razor is named after him. But Ockham held important, often influential views not only in metaphysics but also in all other major areas of medieval philosophylogic, physics or natural philosophy, theory of knowledge, ethics, and political philosophyas well as in theology. Levi ben Gerson Perhaps no other medieval Jewish philosopher has been so maligned over the centuries as Gersonides (Levi ben Gerson, acronym Ralbag). Indeed, his major philosophical work, Sefer Milhamot Ha-Shem (The War of the Lord, 1329), was called Wars against the Lord by one of his opponents. Despite the vilification of his position, Gersonides emerges as one of the most significant and comprehensive thinkers in the medieval Jewish tradition. He has been constantly quoted (even if only to be criticized), and, through the works of Hasdai Crescas and others, Gersonides' ideas have influenced such thinkers as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Benedict de Spinoza. This article will survey his major contributions to medieval philosophy.

John of Jandun The Arabic-Latin translation movements in the Middle Ages, which paralleled that from Greek into Latin, led to the transformation of almost all philosophical disciplines in the medieval Latin world. The impact of Arabic philosophers such as al-F r b , Avicenna and Averroes on Western philosophy was particularly strong in natural philosophy, psychology and metaphysics, but also extended to logic and ethics. Among the influential Arabic theories are: the logical distinction between first and second intentions; the intension and remission of elementary forms; the soul's faculty of estimation and its object, the intentions; the conjunction between human intellect and separate active intellect; the unicity of the material intellect (Averroism); naturalistic theories of miracles and prophecy; the eternity of the world and the concept of eternal creation; the active intellect as giver of forms; the first cause as necessary existent; the emanation of intelligences from the first cause; the distinction between essence and existence; the theory of primary concepts; the concept of human happiness as resulting from perfect conjunction with the active intellect. John Buridan Buridan's Ass: The story of the ass, which died of hunger and thirst because incapable of deciding between water and food placed at equal distances from him, is employed to support the free-will doctrine. A man, it is argued, if confronted by a similar situation, would by the exercise of his free-will, be able to resolve the equilibrium of opposing motives. The story of the ass is attributed to John Buridan, a 14th century nominalist who discussed the freedom of the will in his Quaestiones in decem libros ethicorum Aristotelis, 1489, Bk. Ill, quest. I, but is not, in fact, to be found in his writings. (Cf. A.G. Langley, translation of Leibniz's New Essays Concerning Human Understanding, p. 116 n.) Dante relates the story in Paradiso, IV. -- L.W. John Tauler Tauler, John: (1300-1361) was an outstanding German mystic and preacher. Born in Strassburg, he entered the Dominican Order and did his philosophical and theological studies at Cologne, where he was probably influenced by Eckhart. He was most interested in the ethical and religious aspects of mysticism, and, like Eckhart, he concentrated on an analytical intuition of his own consciousness in his endeavor to grasp the immanent reality of God. Die Predigten Taulers, ed. F. Vetter, (Berlin, 1910) is the most recent edition of his sermons. -- V.J.B.
Nicole Oresme: Therefore, I indeed know nothing except that I know that I know nothing.[1]

Nicole Oresme was a brilliant philosopher, psychologist, economist, mathematician, physicist, astronomer and musicologist, a passionate theologian, a competent translator, counselor of the King, Bishop of Lisieux, one of the principal founders of modern sciences,[2] probably the most original thinker of the 14th century and - so to speak the "French Einstein of the 14th century". And last, but not least, like no other of his time Oresme was able to popularize the sciences.

John Wycliffe also spelled Wyclif, Wycliff, Wiclef, Wicliffe, or Wickliffe) (c. 1328 December 31, 1384), also known as Wycliffe John, was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher,[1] translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers are known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached anticlerical and biblically-centred reforms. He is considered the founder [1] of the Lollard movement, a precursor to the Protestant Reformation (for this reason, he is sometimes called "The Morning Star of the Reformation"). He was one of the earliest opponents of papal authority influencing secular power.[2] Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible into the common language. He completed his translation directly from the Vulgate into vernacular English in the year 1382, now known as Wycliffe's Bible.[3] It is probable that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New [4] Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliffe's Bible appears to have been completed by [4] 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe's assistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395.[5] REFLECTION Man, being rational can consider how best he can live. Reflection is the basic character of man. Life is a fact and we naturally ask questions: What is life? What is its value and destiny? What is the proper place of man in the democracy of things? With an unusually strenuous effort to seek an answer to these momentous questions we become philosophers. What a person wants to get and what he wants to give will depend on his own philosophy of life. It is common that each person bears a philosophical system in his thought, because it is absurd to think of a rational being without philosophical outlook. Every normally developed person, if he lives reflectively, is in some degree a philosopher. 'Philosophy is neither accidental nor supernatural but inevitable and normal' (Perry). The word 'Philosophy' has a beautiful practical exercise. It is an active theory, a conclusive way to conduct our life. If we are not using any adjective, like political, economical, educational etc. in front of the word Philosophy, it simply means philosophy of life. The root of philosophy is the reflection upon life and the world. 'Man and his values are primary; their primacy has to be acknowledged by any philosophy'. There is a common conception of philosophy that it is impractical, without any significance or utility. A little but minute observation will prove that it is a misconception. Actually philosophy springs directly from man's life and its needs. True philosophy is nothing but a general theory of human life and its environment. 'I believe that all life is sacred, and that every human being has a duty to preserve life, to promote life to raise to its highest value life which is capable of development. Every man has at least a dogmatic and superficial philosophy of life based upon his temperament according to which he moulds his activities. There is no choice between philosophy and no philosophy. Philosophy is the rational attempt to have a world-view. Philosophy springs directly from man's life and its needs. It endeavors to reach a conception of the entire universe with all its elements and aspects and their interrelations to one another. Philosophy is the criticism or interpretation of life. Philosophy is regarded now more as an interpretation of

human life, its source, value, meaning and destiny than as an enquiry into the nature of the world, soul and God. It tries to understand the universe in relation to man. It seeks to give a rational conception of the reality as a whole, which satisfies man's deepest intellectual, moral, aesthetic and religious aspirations. Philosophy is considered to be the ultimate enquiry about life and its existence. It is a pursuit of knowledge dealing with the principles, causes and laws regarding life, human nature, creation, principles of living and the conduct of human activity. 'Reflective thought is man's peculiar power and prerogative to think. Most of the real progress which the world has made in every field has come through the medium of reflective thinking, especially the thinking of the great men of all times. When it becomes serious, sustained and logical and directed towards questions of life and values, it becomes philosophy'. Philosophy is the essential occupation of human life. Life and philosophy react upon each other. Thoreau said, 'To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live, according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.' One's philosophy of life is connected to one's world view. Again the connotation of the term 'outlook' suggests the synthesis of beliefs and attitudes. 'Outlook is the life's implicit spiritual basis and assumption: life is its explicit form and expression'. The outlook, to be philosophical, must express ones synoptic thought about world and life. A person can realize his concrete existence when he is able to develop a philosophical outlook. Sometimes philosophical outlook has been confused and identified with otherworldliness, asceticism, mysticism, theism etc. Therefore, we must be clear about the positive configurations and contents of the philosophical outlook in life. We find that this outlook consists of four constituents: 1) metaphysical, 2) psychological, 3) ethical and 4) religious. The metaphysical foundation lies in the individual's deliberate views, beliefs and attitudes, regarding the nature of the universe and the place of human life in it. The main metaphysical questions are: Is the universe a mechanical interplay of material atoms? Or, is it the manifestation of some kind of purpose? Is the universe the manifestation of dead physicochemical processes, or the operation of a spirit? Is there nothing but matter and energy? What is life? What is death? What is Self? What is consciousness? etc. Every human being tries to fit suitable answers to all these questions. It proves that an individual is not the result of dead mechanism. The second constituent of the philosophical outlook is the psychological basis of life. Psychology is the study of mind and of behavior as the expression of mind. Life must have a psychological basis in the form of belief, attitudes regarding the nature and functions of the mind that, directly or indirectly, shapes all human life and behavior. What is mind? What is its nature? And what is the practical bearing of all these on the conduct of human life? Every human being living meaningfully in the society tries to answer all these questions in his own way. It is the 'realization of the motivated character of the mind; and cultivation of a conscientious habit of truthful self-exploration of motives with a view to integration and harmonization of personality'. The third ingredient of the philosophical outlook is the ethical orientation of life. If life must have a metaphysical foundation and a psychological basis, it must further, also have an ethical orientation. This ethical foundation consists of appropriate beliefs and attitudes regarding the ultimate goal of human life. It is also about the nature and modes of life conducive to that goal. The study of ultimate goal of all our life's aspiration has occupied the human mind from the dawn of reflection. What a man ought to be or do naturally depends on what man is. The nature of ethical goal of human life can only be ascertained after having due regard to the nature of human existence (metaphysical foundation) and human nature (psychological foundation). Ethics determines the art and goals of good living. Finally, there remains the religious coping. If man's life must have a metaphysical foundation, a psychological basis and an ethical orientation, it must have also the finishing touch and grace of a religious coping. It is the appropriate beliefs and attitudes regarding the nature of the ultimate ground and sanction of the moral obligations that devolve in his life. Morality and religion are closely connected with each other. Religious experience is as old as smiling and weeping, loving and forgiving. It is concerned with the elevation of human personality. Love for humanity and devotion are the genuine expressions of true religion. Religion springs from the spiritual constitution of man and we know that man is a composite being having mental, physical and spiritual aspects. This fourth constituent of philosophical outlook signifies that an individual has obligations not only for the society but also for the whole universe. 'Man is the common denominator with reference to which religions, philosophies, political and social ideologies and even science are tested'. The common element that is associated with the above three-life, philosophy and philosophical outlook is the nature of human being. There are never ending controversies regarding man's nature. But it is clear that the change and development of an individual are physical, social as well as cultural. As he lives in a physical and social environment, he, at any rate cannot ignore others' individuality. With respect to the curiosity whether human life has any meaning W.H. Halverson has mentioned the theory of cosmic purpose. 'Everything that occurs in the world is part of a grand design, and that every individual human life derives its highest meaning from its participation in the whole. That's why the guiding force of each and every plan of individual life should be the philosophical outlook. To live as a real member of human society is ones duty and responsibility also.

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